This week I watched two movies, the Ridley Scott directed Body of Lies and the new spin on an old childhood tale, Hansel & Gretel.

Before I get into the movies, I would like to say rest in peace to film critic Roger Ebert who died this week after a long battle with cancer. I used to watch his reviews with Gene Siskel when I was younger before Siskel died and his reviews with other critics after that.

I’d also like to say that I do not really review the movies that I’ve seen. This is just a way of keeping track of the movies and I’ll tell you whether I like them or not and what I think about the movies. Just like you would if your friend asked you about the movie.

Everybody’s a critic.

Body of Lies (2008)

This movie was really good. I had downloaded it onto my computer and had it on the hard drive for a while.

I never really got to watch it until this week when my internet decided to take a rest.

The movie stars Di Caprio who my girlfriend commented about him never making a bad movie. I guess she likes all his movies. I myself can’t think of a bad movie he made without looking up his filmography.

In Body of Lies, he plays a CIA agent in the Middle East trying to bring down a terrorist. Things go wrong along the way and is complicated by Russell Crowe’s character who doesn’t really care about anything as long as the job gets done. Crowe is his boss.

The action sequences were all great and the characters were really authentic and well played. It’s a good story for everyone to watch as it has a little of everything in there including romance and action.

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters

This movie was really bad. I decided to look up what was showing at the movies this weekend and it was either this or Snitch starring The Rock.

Only about 2 minutes into the movie, I was starting to regret my decision to see this. The story we all know is retold very quickly at the beginning and looks like an “on the last episode of Hansel and Gretel” tv replay.

There were so many things wrong with the script. The only real cliffhanger of the movie where they were going to have to defeat all the witches gathering for the Blood Moon doesn’t come off as a challenge and is resolved quickly. Nothing like spoiling a cliffhanger moment with an easy solution that we already know beforehand.

Then there’s the Hulk guy. SMH.

One thing I really like is the new trend of them remaking these old tales from my childhood. I used to read these books and loved the tales of:

Snow White (Snow White and the Huntsman)

Hansel & Gretel

Jack & the Beanstalk (Jack the Giant Slayer)

Cinderella

Pinocchio

Rumpelstiltskin

The Princess and the Pea

Puss in Boots

The Steadfast Tin Soldier

The Emporer’s New Clothes

The Three Little Pigs

Red Riding Hood

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters could have been great because the story I know ended with the witch being pushed into the oven. We don’t know much of what happened after and it’s creative that they came up with them being witch hunters.

I’d love to see the other movies get made into action packed adventures with unique stories and twists but please Hollywood, make good movies out of them.

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